Siemens and HD Hyundai Form Strategic Partnership for AI-Powered Digital Shipyards

Siemens and HD Hyundai have expanded their strategic partnership to accelerate digital transformation in the shipbuilding sector. The agreement, which covers HD Hyundai's use of Siemens Xcelerator industrial software and automation portfolio, aims to implement an artificial intelligence-enabled "digital shipyard" model to increase efficiency, quality and sustainability in ship construction.

Siemens and HD Hyundai have signed a new collaboration aimed at addressing the global shipbuilding sector's growing production capacity needs and shipyard modernization. Under the expanded strategic partnership, HD Hyundai will integrate the Siemens Xcelerator industrial software and automation portfolio into its processes to accelerate digital shipyard transformation.

The collaboration aims to achieve end-to-end digitalization of ship construction processes by bringing together engineering, production, supply chain and shipyard operations under a single digital platform. In this way, more efficient production processes are intended to be created through artificial intelligence-enabled analytics, digital twin technologies, intelligent automation and data-driven decision-making mechanisms.

Artificial Intelligence and Digital Twin Technologies Deployed to Shipyards
The digital shipyard model to be developed is expected to accelerate production processes, raise quality standards and reduce rework requirements. At the same time, through more effective management of production planning, resource management and operational processes, shipyards' global competitive strength is intended to be increased.

The new approach has been designed to support not only newly established shipyards but also phased digitalization of existing production facilities without disrupting their operations.

Supporting Modernization of U.S. Shipbuilding Industry
As part of the collaboration, Siemens and HD Hyundai will also support the work of the U.S.-Korea Shipbuilding Technology Collaboration Center to be established in Washington D.C.

The center will strengthen collaboration among government agencies, technology companies and industry representatives, contributing to the dissemination of digital shipyard technologies, development of modernization strategies and support for skilled workforce in the shipbuilding sector.

Siemens Xcelerator to Form the Foundation for Digital Transformation
Under the agreement, software and automation solutions from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio will support critical processes such as controlled data sharing, configuration management, digital approval processes, production visibility and product lifecycle traceability.

In this way, HD Hyundai aims to strengthen digital integration in design and production processes while creating a more flexible, efficient and sustainable shipbuilding infrastructure.

Statements from Senior Management
H.K. Kim, President and CEO of HD Hyundai Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, stated that artificial intelligence is no longer merely a technology that increases production efficiency, but has become a strategic factor transforming all processes from ship design to operation. Kim expressed that through the collaboration with Siemens, they aim to contribute to the widespread adoption of the digital shipyard model on a global scale.

Siemens AG President and CEO Roland Busch stated that through this collaboration, which features the Siemens Xcelerator platform at its core, they have created a scalable model for future digital shipyards. Busch said that by bringing together data, software and automation in a single ecosystem, they will support shipbuilders in increasing production capacity, improving quality and achieving operational efficiency.